Holidays · January 2027
MLK weekend in Aspen
A three-day weekend in the coldest, driest snow of the season. What overlaps it, what fills first, and how to arrive ready to ski.
A three-day weekend in the coldest, driest snow of the season. What overlaps it, what fills first, and how to arrive ready to ski.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day is Monday, January 18, 2027, a three-day weekend for many American families. In Aspen it falls inside Aspen Gay Ski Week, January 17–24, its 50th year, and two weeks before X Games at Buttermilk, January 29–31. January averages highs of 32°F, lows of 10°F and about 28 inches of snow in town.
Dates from Aspen Gay Ski Week, X Games and Aspen Snowmass; weather is NOAA's 1991–2020 normals. Checked November 9, 2026.
Paul Montiel · Aspen · Updated November 2026
Three-day weekends compress arrivals into Friday and Saturday. A private car at ASE or Eagle, with room for ski bags, is the first thing to secure. Airport transportation.
Private instructors and small-group lessons go early on holiday weekends. Private ski instructor.
With Gay Ski Week in town, the good Saturday tables go first. Dining reservations.
Ikon Base blackout dates can include holiday weekends; check before you book. Aspen and the Ikon Pass.
Tell us the flight and who is coming. We arrange the car at the aircraft, skis fitted at the house before the first morning, groceries in the kitchen and the Saturday table. Plan the weekend.
Have skis and boots fitted at the house the evening you arrive; the first morning starts on the lift, not in a queue. Ski rental delivery.
Town sits near 7,900 feet. A gentle first afternoon and plenty of water make the next two days. The first 48 hours.
Extend to the following weekends and you catch the quieter midweek before X Games. Aspen in January.
Saturday, January 16 to Monday, January 18, 2027. Martin Luther King Jr. Day is Monday, January 18.
Busier than the quiet early-January stretch: it is a three-day weekend for many U.S. families and falls inside Aspen Gay Ski Week, January 17–24, 2027.
Deep winter: NOAA normals give January highs near 32°F, lows near 10°F and about 28 inches of snow in town.
No. X Games Aspen 2027 is January 29–31 at Buttermilk, two weeks later.
Cars at the aircraft, skis at the house, and the evenings booked.
From Aspen's airport to the door in a private SUV, timed to your actual landing.
Fitted at the residence, not in a shop queue.
A car and driver on call for dinner and the night out, so nobody hunts for a taxi at midnight.
A private lesson matched to the skier and the mountain.
Aspen, known
What sells out, and the dates that matter.
Written from Aspen by Paul Montiel. A few letters a season, only when something matters. Leave any time; we never share your address.Aspen Gay Ski Week · X Games Aspen 2027 · Aspen Snowmass: 2026–27 season passes · NOAA NCEI: 1991–2020 monthly normals, Aspen — checked November 9, 2026.
Send the flight and the group. We'll have the car at the aircraft and the skis at the house.
Plan the weekend
